The idea of fate playing a hand in the main couple's romantic journey is fairly common throughout the romance genre, but no medium leans into this idea as heavily as anime. Across many romantic anime series, the trope of coincidences is so overused that it can become stale if the couple isn't nuanced to perfection. That being said, there may be a reasonable explanation for this unreasonable trope.

Longtime anime fans may be well acquainted with the myth of the "Red Thread of Fate." Like the overbearing coincidences of certain romances, the "Red Thread of Fate" is a supernatural force that keeps lovers united across time and space. Looking into the mythology further and how it's tied to anime, this beloved myth is clearly behind the many coincidences of romance within this genre.

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Behind the "Red Thread of Fate" Mythology

your name red thread

According to the site Language Log, the "Red Thread of Fate" is an East Asian belief originating from Chinese mythology. Though there is a difference in how various Asian cultures tell the myth, the main detail is that a red thread is tied to an individual at birth and at the other end of the thread is their true love. In Chinese mythology specifically, the deity Yue-Laou handles the chords, bringing together all couples with a predestined union of love and marriage that can't be prevented.

Among the nations that picked up this legend was Japan, which introduced the world to the culture of anime. Since this legend is several thousand years old and made its way across nations, surely it left its mark on the culture of these nations. In Japan, the belief in the fate of love and marriage is strongly represented within the culture's storytelling, including its popular animated series.

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The "Red Thread of Fate" Brought Into Anime

Taki and Mitsuha in the Your Name anime film side by side body swapped

The biggest recent example of this great myth within anime is the film Your Name. If the concept of two lovers finding one another across literal time and space were not enough to drive the point home, the movie includes visuals of a red thread connected to both main characters. Other anime that include the visual of the red thread are Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Toradora and Fruits Basket just to name a few. Of course, a lack of the visual doesn't mean a lack of the myth's influence, as the general idea of "destined lovers" is significantly represented through the use of the coincidence trope.

Anime like Rent a Girlfriend or even Winter 2023's The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague present a couple that starts off with a hint of romantic airs between them, but they part ways with no promise of seeing each other again. They coincidentally meet in the least expected place and, as they continue on their journey through life and love, more instances push them closer together. With the myth of the "Red Thread of Fate" in mind, these coincidences sound a lot more like fate than anything else. Given the great influence of the myth and how it found its way into anime, it's arguably a good explanation as to why so many romance anime in particular rely on fate to keep the couple together.

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The-Ice-Guy-and-Cool-Female-Colleague-Walking-on-Bridge

While coincidences happen in Western romances as well, it's not as often as in Eastern romance storytelling. Originating from the West is the idea of the "Star-Crossed Lovers" from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; however, the influence of the prolific playwright's work from 400 years ago isn't as apparent as that of the "Red Thread of Fate." Differing from anime romances in particular, Western love stories don't often lean into the idea of fate or rely on coincidences nearly as much as anime. Oddly enough, although it's a Western trope, the idea of the "Star-Crossed Lovers" is identified in about as many anime series as Western series, according to TV Tropes.

Regardless of which trope is classified in these romantic anime -- whether it be "Star-Crossed Lovers," a visual representation of the "Red Thread of Fate" or an overbearing amount of coincidences -- there is certainly an influence of the original "Red Thread of Fate" legend. This idea and cultural belief is what keeps couples together, particularly in anime, and would explain why so many romances in the genre depend on coincidence -- or perhaps it is fate after all.